


The Desert Rose

by Lacrimula_Falsa



Series: Tumblr Imports And Exports [4]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Magic, Bonding, Discord: IronStrange Haven, First Kiss, IronStrange Gift Exchange, IronStrange Gift Exchange 2019, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 22:49:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18353315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lacrimula_Falsa/pseuds/Lacrimula_Falsa
Summary: Tony often felt like the goddesses were playing tricks on him. Sometimes those tricks were a blessing. This time, especially.(Written for the 2019 IronStrange Gift Exchange. AU, complete.)





	1. A Strange Meeting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Codee21](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Codee21/gifts).



> Written for the 2019 IronStrange Gift Exchange, here's my incredibly late gift for the amazing **Codee21**. Just this once I love time zones for allowing me to make the deadline on this. ^^'' I hope you like it! 
> 
> This is likely going to be the first part in a series since I have _a lot_ more ideas for this AU but didn't have time to write all of them for the Exchange. 
> 
> A big thank you to **[beemotionpicture](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beemotionpicture/pseuds/beemotionpicture)** for tireless cheerleading and getting me unstuck so many times. <3
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe or any other Marvel franchise. Written for enjoyment, not profit. 
> 
> **Warnings!:** This is an _A/B/O fic_ , please hit the back button now if that's not your thing. However this fic includes no dubious consent or non-consensual elements.
> 
> Enjoy!

Tony was beginning to understand the Sandwalkers' obsession with covering their hair. His scalp felt like someone was baking it and his hair felt almost too hot to touch. 

He wasn't exactly keen on going into the temple and risking insulting the Sandwalkers, but if he didn't get into the shade soon he was going to get heatstroke. 

Crossing his fingers and hoping that he wasn't about to commit some unforgivable offence, Tony stepped into the stone building.

It was surprisingly cool inside. The small slits in the ceiling didn't let in much light, making it penumbral and blessedly cool. Walking a little further inside, Tony stopped short when he found himself in a large chamber with a high arched ceiling. 

The painting on said ceiling was certainly beautiful, but it wasn't what had caught his attention. 

Sitting on a narrow stele was an emerald about the size of his fist, set into an intricate gold... well a pendant, he supposed, though how the wearer wouldn't collapse with that rock around their neck was anyone's guess. 

"The Eye of Agamotto. If you marry the Sorcerer Supreme, it will soon be yours."

Tony didn't quite whirl around. But he did turn rather swiftly.

"I'm sorry." The man smiled. "I didn't mean to startle you." 

Since the man hadn't bowed, Tony didn't either. 

"Oh, uh, it's alright. My apologies, am I not supposed to be in here?" 

Another smile. The flowery scent of Omega reached Tony's nose when the man walked closer, colourful robes swaying around his ankles. 

"Usually no. But given that you look far too overheated to be in the tents, never mind the sun, I'm willing to allow it." 

Tony felt his brows rise. It wasn't exactly usual around his own lands to see an omega in charge of a temple, but then the Sandwalkers did a lot of things differently. He sketched a small bow after all. 

"Thank you. I was indeed beginning to fear for my scalp. And my sanity. The heat outside is dreadful." 

The man stepped even closer, surprising Tony by putting a hand to his forehead. 

Tony's alpha side perked up, pleased at a content-smelling omega so close to him. Which was somewhat inappropriate, but at least not visible on the outside. Though Tony had to restrain himself from leaning into the man to smell his high collar. 

"You are far too warm. You should drink a lot and stay out of the sun. And you need to cover your head, with your dark hair." 

The man inclined his head in thought, hand still on Tony's forehead. Then he unknotted one of the belts around his hips, which turned out to actually be a scarf. He held it out to Tony. 

"Here. Put that over your head when you go back out. And maybe ask a healer to give you some shadegrass balm if you can get hold of one. It's the hottest time of the year now, so they should have it readily on hand." 

Tony found himself smiling when he took the scarf. An omega fussing over him. That hadn't happened in a long time.

"Thank you. I'll be sure to take good care of this. Where may I return it?" 

"Oh, uh. You can keep it. I have too many clothes as it is." 

Tony tamped down the disappointment that welled up at that. It was perfectly understandable that an omega might not want to have an unbonded alpha sniffing around their common whereabouts. He forced a smile. 

"Thank you. I shall treasure your kind gift." 

One dark eyebrow went up. 

"As long as you use it to cover your head in the sun I won't mind if you treat it horribly." 

That startled Tony into a genuine grin.

"I promise." 

"Well then. I have duties to attend to now but I trust that you can find your own way back outside once you've cooled down a bit?" 

Tony's grin widened.

"Trusting me not to make off with the giant jewel?" 

The omega smiled in a way that made Tony think he'd said something unintentionally amusing. 

"Trust me. You couldn't steal that if you tried. Have a pleasant day and please do keep out of the sun."

"I will. And thank you for the scarf. A pleasant day to you as well." 

Tony thought he heard the omega say something in reply as he walked away but it was too quiet to make out. Shaking his head, he looked at the scarf in his hand in bemusement. What a strange encounter. 


	2. Impressions And Chances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, Codee, there's more fic!
> 
> I had a bit of a technological fail and didn't realise that draft chapters need to be posted individually. *face-palm* Which means that you get chapter two and three a day late. (I fixed the posting date so you can't see it. I'm a filthy cheater.)
> 
> I hope my little mishap makes for a nice surprise at least. ^^'

When he finally made it back to their tent after cornering a healer into giving him some of the balm the omega in the temple had recommended and happy not to have been accosted by any of the other delegates on his way, Tony was greeted by Rhodey's fiercest frown. 

"Wow, honeybear, what stung your bottom?"

Rhodey grabbed him by the arm, pressing him into one of the chairs. 

"Are you even serious right now!? You're here to marry Lord Strange, not to... whatever you're doing that has you strutting around like an alpha in rut." 

Tony blinked. 

"I'm what like a what now?"

Rhodey glowered at him. 

"Tony one can smell your scent a hundred paces upwind and you walked in here looking like a puffed up rooster. Not to mention that everyone steered clear of you like ships of an oncoming flotilla." 

Tony made a face. He could admit - inwardly, to himself - that he hadn't been uninterested in the beautiful omega he'd met in the temple. But still. Calling him a puffed up rooster was a bit excessive.

"What? No. Come on, Rhodey, it can't be that bad." 

Rhodey crossed his arms over his chest. 

"Oh really. And that bloody lip you're sporting surely doesn't come from you biting down on it with your fangs, right?" 

Tony touched his mouth. His hand came back bloody. Startled, he ran his tongue over his front teeth. 

And alright, those were definitely his fangs. 

"Furthermore, that's not your scarf. And I'll be damned if it doesn't smell like omega. Not that anyone would currently notice with the way you're scenting up this tent." 

Tony put up his hands in defeat. 

"Alright, alright! You win. But there's nothing to be concerned about. I met an omega at the temple and they gave me this to cover my hair with. That's it. I don't even know their name. Or where they live."

"Tony." Rhodey still sounded unhappy. "That is still not good. If you want any chance at becoming Lord Strange's husband, you can't go around making this kind of impression. I can't believe I have to tell you that." 

Tony put a hand to his forehead, suddenly feeling unbelievably tired. 

"That's enough, Rhodey. I understand and you're right. I'll take a bath to get the scent off. The damage is done now anyway. Let's just hope that the Sandwalkers are not fond of gossip." 

Rhodey put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. 

"I'm sorry to tell you this, Lord Stark, but everyone's fond of gossip. But take that bath anyway, I'm not sleeping in a rut hut." 

Tony snickered, slapping Rhodey with the offending scarf. 

"Rude. Is that any way to talk to your dearest friend?" 

Rhodey shot him a flat look. 

"If he's behaving with all the grace and intelligence of a running-beetle? Absolutely. And now go and find yourself a bath before you become significantly less dear to me."

* * *

 

It was a day later, now bathed and dressed in his finest finery, that Tony became truly concerned about the impression he might have made the day prior. 

The delegates set around the ornate low table certainly didn't look overly pleased to see him. It probably didn't help that he was late due to having spilled food onto his first tunic. His hair probably looked like a right mess after changing in a hurry. 

Tony sunk down onto a free pillow with a feeling of trepidation. 

"Lord Stark."

A series of acknowledging nods went around the table. Tony nodded back, trying not to let his nervousness show. 

"Now that everyone's here, we can begin." 

A woman wearing an elaborate green headscarf stood up. 

"As you're all aware, the various nobles, craftspeople and merchants assembled here today are all hoping to enter into a marriage with Lord Stephen Strange, the current Sorcerer Supreme of the Sandwalker Lands from the border at the Blue Mountains to the Trakener Oasis. They are all well aware what Lord Strange's side would bring into such an arrangement. Today they have the opportunity to show me and the other delegates from the ruling council what our side could expect from such a union in return. We have prepared a list of questions for each of the candidates. They will speak in the order they arrived to this meeting. We will take a break at midday." 

That made Tony the closing act, probably late in the evening and definitely when everyone was already bored and tired. _Fantastic_. 

Jarvis' constant admonitions about the importance of punctuality came to mind. Tony sighed. His childhood tutor might have had a point there. 

* * *

 

The meeting dragged on for what felt like an eternity, and with every person being questioned Tony's hope for a favorable outcome for himself dwindled further. 

These people were offering trade and riches Tony couldn't have hoped to match even if he'd inherited all of the Stark lands instead of only a third of them. But more importantly, most of the other suitors were about half his age. 

It was becoming more and more painfully clear with every passing hour that he had been far to optimistic when estimating his chances.

What had seemed like such a good idea under the grey skies of his homeland was starting to look like a mirage in the harsh light of the desert sun. 

* * *

 

It was just as late as Tony had predicted when it was finally his turn to make his case. Quite a lot of the other suitors had already left, apparently secure in the belief that their offer would trump all others. 

Tony was feeling decidedly less alert than at the start of the meeting, but the council delegates still looked surprisingly chipper. He briefly wondered if they were using some kind of Sandwalker magic for that. 

He wouldn't be surprised. Sandwalkers used magic for everything. At the moment he felt too hopeless and tired to be as uneasy at the thought as he usually was. 

"Lord Stark. I'm happy to see that you are still with us. Please rise." 

'Happy' sounded more like 'surprised'. Tony stood up anyway, bowing respectfully. Behind him someone snickered. 

"Now Lord Stark. For the first question..." 

The delegate trailed of, frowning down at the list in front of him. 

"It, ah, seems we, uh, actually have just one?Question...? For you? No, no. That can't be right." 

The beta shuffled through the papers in front of him. A few people were starting to whisper. Someone laughed loudly and was quickly shushed from three sides.

The delegate looked back up. Tony fought to keep a friendly expression. 

"It seems that we had indeed..." The delegate cleared his throat. "...prepared only the one question for you. Ah. Well." 

The delegate with the green headscarf, clearly done with the beta's stammering, pried the list of of the man's hands. 

"Lord Stark, the question we have for you is 'Why is an alpha from Taderin, of your age and standing, considering a marriage with a Sandwalker?'."

Tony almost sat back down in his surprise. Behind him the same person snickered again. 

By the blood of the earth, he wished the ground would swallow him.

This meeting was a complete disaster. Tony felt his fangs bite into his lip and hoped he wasn't making it bleed again. His heart was beating double time in his chest. 

Well. As they said in Taderin; honesty was the rarest gift of all. And it wasn't like he had much else to offer in the face of essentially being asked what the storms he thought he was doing. His mouth had formed the word before his mind had the chance to make him reconsider. 

"Children." 

There was a moment of absolute silence in the tent. Then the delegate raised a brow. 

"I'm not sure I follow." 

Tony took a deep breath. 

"It is my wish to have my own children. Not just my children as any children I took in would be by my people's laws, but children I have sired that my mate has born." 

He soldiered on before anyone had the chance to interrupt. 

"Now as you may know, in Taderin an alpha of my age and standing is expected to choose their children from those that were orphaned or that their own families cannot care for. For this reason no unwed omega of child-bearing age would so much as consider bonding with me. Outside of Taderin I cannot easily find a mate due to my age. But my mother was not from Taderin, she was born in Canid. And her bloodline had strong magic, the strongest of all the Houses there. I know that your people treasure strong magic and it was my hope..."

He wasn't sure how to finish that sentence. It likely didn't matter anyway. He was surprised that nobody had started laughing yet, though there was some muttering going on amongst the other suitors. 

A delegate wearing purple robes spoke up before the silence could drag on for too long. 

"That strength of blood would counterbalance limited means and standing?" 

Tony appreciated the effort to help him safe face, shooting the man a grateful look.

"Yes. Well put, thank you." 

The delegate inclined his head. 

"Well then." He stood up. "Now that Lord Stark has been questioned, our meeting has run it's course. We will go and convene with Lord Strange himself now. His choice will be announced tomorrow at dawn. You may go. Have a calm night." 

All the delegates rose and bowed, then filed out of the tent in a neat line. Most of the suitors followed swiftly. 

Tony was the last to leave, dragging his leaden feet towards his tent. 

He had an urgent meeting with a bottle of spirits. Maybe he could sleep off the disappointment afterwards. 


	3. Tricks Of The Goddesses

The next day Tony was rather rudely awoken by a great deal of noise and somebody shaking him. 

"Tony! Tony! Come on, man, this isn't the time to sleep!" 

He squinted up at Rhodey. 

"What's the rush? We have all day to break camp. Let me sleep." 

Rhodey shook him again. 

"Break camp? What the storms are you talking about!? You're getting bonded today!" 

Rhodey grinned down at him. 

"What, did you celebrate so hard you forgot? Without _me_? You should be ashamed of yourself."

Tony sat up. 

"Did you get drunk in solidarity? You're talking nonsense. And what the storms is all that noise?" 

Rhodey's was still smiling like he'd been kissed by a goddess. 

"That would be all the other suitors getting ready to crawl home in defeat. Now get up! It's your bonding day! And wipe that spirits-sick expression off your face before your new mate sees you, they'll think someone died." 

Tony scowled to hide the stab of hurt at Rhodey's words. 

"I'm not spirits-sick and haven't been from just one bottle in decades. Are you angry with me? I know I dragged you to the desert for nothing but-" 

Rhodey cut him off. 

"What the storms, Tony? I'm not angry with you! Why would you think that?" 

"Because you're mocking me! I know you're annoyed with me but I've never known you to be the type for that." 

Rhodey's face did something complicated before settling into a completely blank expression. 

"Right. Of course. I'm mocking you. Having a laugh. Trying to pull your leg. And just to make the joke _that_ much more amusing I got the Sandwalkers to let me borrow their _priceless temple artefact_ to make it look genuine." 

Tony's maudlin thoughts ground to a halt. 

"What? What artefact?" 

Rhodey stepped to the side and pointed to an ornate chest behind him. Which definitely hadn't been in the tent the day before.

"The Eye of Aga-mumble? It's the bonding price. They brought it here while you were still kissing clouds." 

Tony suddenly felt like someone had dunked him into a frozen lake despite the desert heat. 

"So it's real? You're serious!?" 

Rhodey slapped his shoulder. 

"Now he gets it! Look, whatever you said in that meeting must have been inspired by the goddesses themselves. I don't claim to understand why but _yes_ , Lord Stange chose you. You're meeting him for the bonding tonight, so I suggest you get ready." 

Tony blinked dumbly at his friend. 

"I'm going to need a moment." 

Rhodey ruffled his hair, ignoring his protesting noises. 

"Alright. But then you better get out of that bed or I'm dragging you by the hair." 

* * *

 

A somewhat hysterical fit of laughter and two thirds of the day later, Tony entered the bonding tent feeling like his heart was going to give out from nerves. 

And nearly fell flat on his face when his feet caught on the hem of his ceremonial garb. 

He didn't know how exactly he ended up on his back on top of a stack of pillows instead, but it certainly beat kissing the floor. 

Somewhat discombobulated, Tony stared up at... the omega he'd met in the temple? 

That couldn't be right. Now that the man was wearing clothes that showed his neck, one could see the crescent-shaped bonding mark there. 

It took a moment before Tony found his voice. 

"I think I have the wrong tent." 

The omega smiled. 

"No. I don't think so." 

It took an embarrassingly long moment for things to fall into place in Tony's mind. He heaved himself out of the pillows. 

"Sometimes I think the goddesses are playing tricks on me." 

Lord Strange's smile waned a little. 

"I'm sorry if I am not what you expected." 

Tony shook his head. 

"No, I'm just... surprised. When we met in the temple I never would have thought..." 

"Yes well. I didn't expect to meet again either but..." 

Tony mustered a smile, still feeling rather unsteady. He sat back down on the pillows. 

"Here we are?" 

He got a smile in return. 

"Here we are." 

Lord Strange also sat down, a good deal more gracefully than Tony. 

There was a long moment of silence where both of them clearly had little idea how to go on. 

"You know, if Rhodey could see me know he'd break something laughing." 

"Rhodey?" 

"My dearest and oldest friend." 

Lord Strange started unwinding the elaborate bindings around his wrist. 

"And what would your friend find amusing?"

Tony deliberated for a moment, then decided that if he was going to go through with the bonding, he might as well put all his gems in the basket from the beginning. It was no less than his future mate deserved. 

"That it's you."

 When the omega looked confused, Tony elaborated, grinning despite himself at the memory. 

"When I came back to our tent after meeting you in the temple, he told me that I needed to take a bath because I smelled like I was in rut and that he was very disappointed in me for making such a poor impression on our hosts by taking gifts from every pretty omega I came across. Or something to that effect." 

Lord Strange burst into laughter. 

It was infectious. Soon enough they were both giggling like children. 

When they finally calmed down, Lord Strange's head had somehow found its way onto Tony's shoulder. 

He found that he quite liked the feeling. He felt a lot lighter now, with the scent of happy omega in his nose and the warmth of another person close to him. His heart was still galloping, but for an entirely different reason now. 

Maybe that was what prompted him to put even more of his heart on display than he already had. 

"I'm glad it's you. As you can tell I was quite smitten with you. I still am." 

He gently picked up the omega's hand, linking their fingers together and ignoring the scarring he found there. 

"Now Lord Stra-" 

"Stephen. Please." 

"Stephen. I've never... well. I have no idea how Sandwalker bondings work. And I'm afraid that I didn't read up on it either. I hope you can forgive my ignorance." 

A touch of red had crept in around Stephen's sharp cheekbones when he lifted his head to look at Tony. 

"It's very simple actually. You bite me and then my magic will do the rest." 

Tony frowned. Stephen's scent had suddenly turned sharp and sour. His smile looked forced now. He tried to lighten the mood, unsure what had caused it and wary of touching on something forbidden or painful. Bondings were sacred things to all peoples.

"Oh good. And here I was afraid that there'd be some vows for me to butcher horribly." 

That at least brought the smile back. 

"We will need vows for the official joining. I think we can take the time between our bonding and the formal ceremony to come up with them."

"That sounds like a good plan." 

Silence feel again. This time it was the tense and nervous kind.

After a few moments Stephen suddenly withdrew his hands and leaned in, sticking his nose into the crook of Tony's neck. His breath puffed warm against the sensitive skin. 

"How many scented oils did the temple aids drench you in!? I can't even find your own scent under all this!" 

That made Tony laugh again, dispelling a lot of the tension. 

"I have no idea. I don't smell them that much. But I think there were at least five." 

Stephen giggled against his neck. 

"I bet I know who was behind that." 

He drew back a little, still leaning into Tony's space. 

"So. Now that the surprise has had the chance to wear off a little, are you still glad that it's me?" 

Tony felt like his smile was going to split his face. 

"Yes. Out of all the flowers in the garden, I got the desert rose." 

Stephen ducked his head. 

"That's very poetic." 

"It's a saying of my mother's people. It actually goes 'the blood rose' but that always sounded a bit gruesome to me." 

"I like your version." 

Stephen put a hand on Tony's cheek. 

"Would you be terribly offended if I kissed you before we were bonded?" 

Tony didn't even grace that ridiculous question with an answer. He just leaned in and brought their lips together. 

He didn't know if the Sandwalkers truly used it for _everything_ , but there was certainly magic in that kiss. 

* * *

~}|{~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: I sincerely hope everyone who read this fic when I first posted it has since found the previously missing second and third chapter. ^^' (See notes on chapter two.)  
> \-------
> 
> I didn't write the actual bonding scene because I am still debating where to go with the sequel to this fic and whether or not I want to include a plot point revolving around the bonding. I hope this chapter feels complete despite that. 
> 
> Thank you for reading, I hope I could entertain.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this trip into my newest Alternate Universe. Comments are an author's water in the desert! 
> 
> The Tumblr post for this work can be found here: https://lacrimula-falsa.tumblr.com/post/183953898206/ironstrange-gift-exchange-2019-my-gift-for


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